Washington: The US space agency and the automaker Nissan have announced a five-year partnership to build self-driving, zero-emission autonomous cars for earth - and eventually space.

Nissan and NASA will test autonomous cars at the US space agency's Ames Research Centre in Sunnyvale, California.

NASA researchers will be working with Nissan's research unit in Silicon Valley, they said in a joint statement.

Nissan is already testing cars that can navigate urban environments on their own, Wired.com reported.

The effort can develop technology that will be put to use in passenger vehicles here on Earth and rovers on planets.

"This is a perfect blend of the capability of what the robotics folks at NASA Ames have and the autonomy that we bring," Maarten Sierhuis, director of Nissan's Silicon Valley research centre was quoted as saying.

"The partnership brings together the best and brightest of NASA and Nissan and validates our investments in Silicon Valley," added Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn.